OCEA in the Register

A museum and a cemetery. Both would honor the service and sacrifices of so many men and women who have given their lives in defense of our democracy. Both would be located on hallowed ground, land that is part of Orange County’s rich military history. Both would offer a space where families and children can remember those who have fallen and reflect on the price of the freedom we all enjoy.

This week, the Register detailed an important improvement for animals and the public: the construction of a state-of-the-art county animal shelter in Tustin that will provide a much-needed upgrade to the decades-old facility in Orange.

This was a historic week for working people – one that reinforces why I am so proud to be standing shoulder to shoulder with fast-food workers, nurses, teachers and firefighters in the labor movement demanding a better life for all Californians.

The reason there is so much disruption to the establishment during this presidential election is because no matter how hard they work and how carefully they plan, too many working Americans just can’t get ahead.

The crowd grew very quickly at Anaheim’s Pearson Park on Monday. By 6 p.m., more than 400 peaceful demonstrators holding signs that read “Unity” and “Stop Hate” were gathered at the park near Harbor Boulevard and Cypress Street. Just two days earlier, the location was the scene of a violent and bloody clash between a handful of Ku Klux Klan members and a group of anti-Klan – mainly young – protestors.

Orange County plans to spend $150 million renovating the downtown Santa Ana Civic Center, where thousands of people work and attend court and public meetings – and where far too many live on the streets.

This winter, there has been a flurry of media coverage of the homeless in Orange County, particularly the homeless population in the Santa Ana Civic Center area. We have heard about the county’s plans for a homeless shelter in Anaheim near the 91, its more nebulous plans for a homeless shelter in South County and its on-again, off-again plans to convert the empty Transportation Center in downtown Santa Ana into at least a temporary shelter.

Former San Diego Councilman Carl DeMaio and former San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed announced this week that they have, once again, failed in their effort to launch ballot initiatives aimed at destroying public employee retirement systems. This follows on the heels of their failed attempt last summer to qualify a similar ballot measure.

This newspaper and media outlets across Southern California have been focusing coverage on El Niño – the impact of the recent storms on our homeless population, on drought conditions and on communities at risk of flooding.